Wrench



Oct. 9, 1945.

L. E. LEATHERS WRENCB Filed Aug. 12, 1943 I N V EN TOR. l owZfZeaZ/wm Arm R N EYB "A further object is Patented Oct. 9, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f 2,386j61d r V WRENCH I v Lou E. LeatheraDixon, oa'ur.

- Application August 12, 1943, Serial antes: I

teams; (01.81 91) T This invention relates to wrenches, and its general object is to provide a wrench that can be conveniently used with one hand, as thejaw's thereofv are automatically adjustable to open and closed position,'merely by a' swinging movement of the handle. v v

g I to provide a wrench that is' primarily designed forv use on pipes and the like, and is notonly' adjustable without the use of feed screws or' springs, to fit pipes of various diameters, but the gripping action of the jaws against the work increases, :as manual pressure is applied to the handle.

Another object is to providea self adjusting non-slip pipe wrench that is simple in construction, inexepensive to manufacture, and extremely eflicient in operation, use and service.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the ac-' companying drawing and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like or correspondin parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my wrench, with the jaws in fully open position.

Figure 2 is a sidefview partially in section, with the jaws arranged as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but with the jaws closed in gripping engagement with a pipe.

Figure 4 is a rear elevation.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 5-5 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6-9 in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, it will be noted thatthe handle I which is shown broken away, but maybe of any length, is of the flat bar type, and that the jaw carried end thereof, is formed with a head which includes an arcuate projection 2 providing a cam, extending from the rear portion of said end, but is curved forwardly and tapers inwardly toward its free end, as best shown in Figure 3.

The head also includes a forwardly extending arm 3 that is formed with a bearing collar 4 at its outer end. Mounted on the collar is an inner jaw 5 that is provided with an arcuate plate like ears 1 disposed upon opposite sides of the collar andpivotally secured theretoflby aheadedpin 8 for rocking movement of the collar on'the toothed portiont; to bring about movement. of the. jaw 5 toward the outer or companion jaw 9, as will be apparent from Figures 2 and 3.

Mounted the opposite'sides of the head for free sliding movement are the wide inner end portions ID of ar'cuateplate' like sidewalls of a frame II which also includes a pair of spaced webs I2. and l3 respectivel'y, formed on and bridgin the outer edges of the sidewalls adjacentto the ends thereof, and the inner end portions ID are pivotally secured at their lower ends and adjacent to the inner edgesgthereof to the head substantially at the juncture of the arm 3 with the handle, for disposal of the walls upon opposite sides of the handle and the cam projection 2, as well as rearwardly thereof, and the walls are curved forwardly from their pivot. The jaw 9 includes an elongated body l4 having a toothed inner faced portion l5 extending laterally of the body, so that the toothed portion is of the same length as that of the plate of the jaw 5 and formed on and extending rearwardly from the rear end of the body I4 is an arcuate cam tongue l6 that is engageable with the web l2 and the rear face of the cam projection 2 for slidable movement of the latter on the tongue, as will be apparent from Figures 2 and 3. The tongue is tapered inwardly toward its rear end, and the jaw 9 is pivotally secured to and between the outer ends of the side walls for limited movement of the jaw 9 relative to the frame and to be carried thereby for free movement toward and away from the jaw 5. The teeth of the jaw 9 are inclined rearwardly in the usual manner, and the teeth of the jaw 5 are directed toward the first teeth, .for cooperation therewith, to set up a biting engagement with the work, as shown in Figure 3.

The jaw 9 is provided with a shoulder I! at the juncture of the tongue 16 therewith, and the forward end of the web 12 is arranged in the path of the shoulder for cooperation with the engagement ofthe tongue with the inner face of the web l2 to limit the movement of the jaw 9 relative to the frame. The rearward movement of the frame and consequently the movement of the jaw 9 to open position, is limited by the engagement of the web I3 with the rear face of the handle, as best shown in Figure 2.

The pivots for the frame and the jaw 9 are identical and of the detachable type, in that each ing sleeve l8 to allow free rocking movement of the frame and jaw and the sleeves l8 are secured in place by kerfed headed screws l9, as will be apparent upon inspection of Figure 5, which illustrates the pivot for the jaw.

From the above description and disclosure in the drawing, it is believed that the operation of my wrench will be obvious, but it might be mentioned that the jaws are first mounted on the work, such as apipe which automatically opens the jaws for fitting engagement therewith, thence the handle is moved forwardly as indicated in the drawing. Such movement causes the cam pro-- jection 2 to slide on the tongue 16 and the collar 4 to rock on the jaw 5, which results in the teeth whereby upon swinging movement of the handle v the jaws are moved toward and away from each of the jaws being disposed in biting engagement with the work, and as the forward pressure on the handle is increased, the gripping action of the jaws is increased accordingly, thus it will be seen that slippage of the teeth relative to the work is practically impossible.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made'in the construction "and inthe combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

WhatIclaim is: I

l. A wrench-comprising a handle, an arm formed on and extending at a forward inclination from one end of the handle, a bearing collar formed on the outer end of the'arm, a toothed jaw including spaced ears pivoted to the collar other, and spaced webs formed on and bridging the side walls and being arranged relative to the handle and the second jaw to limit movement of the latter.

2. .A wrench comprising a handle at one end of which is a lateral arm, and a laterally and upwardly curved cam opposed to said arm, a pivoted toothed jaw on the arm'seatable in one position against the arm adjacent the inner face of the cam, an upwardly and forwardly curved frame pivoted 'at one end to the handle between the jaw and the cam and having side walls'connected by relatively spaced apart webs, a jaw pivoted between the side walls at the opposite end of the frame andengaging the upper web to limit its movement, a backwardly and downwardly curved cam on said jawpositioned to engage the outer curved face of the first cam, the lower web pOrtion of the frame engaging the handle to limit the open position of the wrench.

- LOU E. LEATHERS. 

